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to employ the term "networking" for two reasons: emphasis and scope.
"Networking" emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers.
While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on
many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of

computer-mediated communication (CMC).
What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow
individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate

and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections
between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not
the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties"
(Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of

the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking to
meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people
who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this

articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we
label them "social network sites."
While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features,

their backbone consists of visible profiles that display an articulated list of
Friends1 who are also users of the system. Profiles are unique pages where
one can "type oneself into being" (Sund?n, 2003, p. 3). After joining an

SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions.
The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which
typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests, and an "about
me" section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo.

Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia
content or modifying their profile's look and feel. Others, such as Facebook,
allow users to add modules ("Applications") that enhance their profile.

The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user
discretion. By default, profiles on Friendster and Tribe.net are crawled by
search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not
the viewer has an account. Alternatively, LinkedIn controls what a viewer

may see based on whether she or he has a paid account. Sites like MySpace
allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or
"Friends only." Facebook takes a different approach—by default, users who

are part of the same "network" can view each other's profiles, unless a
profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network.
Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary

ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other.